‘The Challenge’: Jordan Reveals Why He Returned To The Show After Taking 2 Years Off

It’s been two years and three seasons since Jordan Wiseley competed on ‘The Challenge,’ but he’s BACK for ‘War of the Worlds 2,’ and we caught up with him about why the timing was finally right.

After winning The Challenge XXXL: Dirty 30, Jordan Wiseley took some time away from the cameras to build production company and clothing company. Now, two years later, he’s ready to compete again on The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2. “The whole point of me getting into reality television was that I wanted to create a life where I could do the things that I love all of the time,” Jordan explained to HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY. “For The Challenge to come along and be such a blessing and to win and really have a good career there, it afforded me the ability to go out and start my own company and own my own business. Now, I finally have time to come back.”

He added that it’s always “extremely difficult” to leave the real world and film a Challenge season because there’s little to no contact with the outside world during the eight-ten weeks of filming. “Any businesses that you have going, you really have to trust the team that you left behind to run it as if you were there,” Jordan said. “We’re at a good place now with the businesses that we’ve created, where I could leave, and they’ll be able to run. I’ve missed The Challenge, so I’m excited.”

Jordan actually met his now-fiancee, Tori Deal, on Dirty 30, and admitted that her being cast on this season also played a big part in his return. “That had to happen, or I wasn’t going to go,” he revealed. “This community and this world is very ruthless when it comes to couples — they either love you, or they cannot wait to tear you apart. There’s no way we were going to allow any fickle BS from reality television come between us. So we really wanted to do it together.”

He did tease that he and Tori will go through “a lot of ups and downs” this season, as being in a relationship on the show can be a curse as much as it is a blessing. “We were at a disadvantage and we knew it coming in,” Jordan explained. “[The other players] know you are automatically going to side together and not vote for each other.” However, the pair made a point to not let their relationship define them. “We made sure to have discussions of how we could be as social as possible,” Jordan said. “We couldn’t just come in there and be this couple that boos up, sits in bed all day and doesn’t socialize. There’s 30 people in that house — you can’t just be an outcast. You need a social game. So that was at the forefront of our strategy.”

On this season of The Challenge, the cast will be split into two teams — one from the United States and one from the United Kingdom. “Big teams are harder than partner stuff,” Jordan admitted. “With partners, it’s just you two, but with teams, everyone wants to point fingers. It’s almost a gang mentality. You can’t help but clique up and make alliances. It’s hard to fight all that inter team stuff WHILE still competing against another team.”

The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 premieres on August 28 at 9:00 p.m. on MTV. This season will feature expanded episodes that are 90 minutes long.